Artiststuck
by prospit-ranger
Summary: Karkat is a sophomore at Savannah College of Art and Design. At the top of his class, he still lives in a shitty-ass apartment with John. His circle of friends all master at the arts, and that circle is growing larger... and weirder...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys! So, this is a little idea that has been floating around in my head, and I felt like I should get you guys' opinion on it. I'll still be doing Something Hidden, by the way. :D SO you should review it and tell me what you think!**_  
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><p><em>Chapter One<br>_

_Your name is KARKAT VANTAS. You are TWENTY YEARS OLD. You attend SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN. Your best friend is SOLLUX CAPTOR. You are in the DIGITAL GRAPHICS DEPARTMENT, and have quite a knack for GRAPHIC DESIGN. You would like to become an AUTOMOBILE DESIGNER, and want to be the best of the best. You have a part-time job at the STARBUCKS on the campus. You have a passion for RIDICULOUSLY SAPPY ROMANCE MOVIES. You live in a ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT, and you share it with JOHN EGBERT, who is a complete and utter FUCKASS. You are a NOTORIOUS ASSHOLE._

Karkat sat on his bed, his knees tucked up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, his phone in his hand. He had pulled his sweatshirt over his toes, and the cold that leaked in from the window chilled his spine, making him hug in his knees tighter. He pushed his legs out of their fabric cocoon, forcing himself up to go and close the window. He shuffled over to the other side of the room, pushing his hands down into his university jacket's pockets. He pulled his hands out of their haven, to be chilled with the pricking needles of December that he so desperately hated. He pulled the pane of the window down, locking the hinge on the side. He began to walk away, but stopped to hear someone yelling at the foot of the building. He peered down at the ground, to see to figures fighting over what seemed to be a sketchbook. The slightly smaller figure was then pushed away, and the larger ran away with the book. Karkat raised a brow, and grabbed his scarf that Kanaya had specially made for him off of the foot of the bed. He slipped his red converse on each small foot, and walked out of the apartment door at a rather fast pace. Why was he so worried about a stranger? Maybe his mom was right when she said he had a soft side. It seemed like hours waiting for the elevator to arrive, and he lost his patience. He looked for the door that had exit written on it, with a little stick man running down some stairs. He tripped over his own feet, but managed to get to the door to swing it open. He darted down the stairs, almost falling on his face four times. He reached the end of them, muttering things like 'thank god' and 'took long enough.' He rested his hands on his knees, hunching over to catch his breath. He burst out the second door that led to the lobby, and almost knocked over a few plants. He looked to his left, and the concierge was giving him a quite displeased look. All he could think to do was give her a faint smile and continue running. He pushed the revolving door quite hard as he saw the boy on his hands and knees, tears falling from his face. He walked over to him, and towered over him.

"Hey. Are you alright?" he asked holding out a hand for him to grab. The boy looked up, his purple-hued eyes glassy.

"Y-yeah... I'm alright..."

Wow. The guy had a fucking serious British accent. Really thick. But it sounded pretty cool. He got on one knee, pushing on it with a hand to get some leverage to stand up, and then taking Karkat's hand to guide him up the rest of the way. Holy shit. The guy must've been 6 feet tall. He made 5-foot-tall Karkat look like an ant. How did he mistake this guy as small?

"The fuckin' douche took my sketchbook." he wrapped his fingers in his black hair, slicking back his bright purple bangs. "W-what in the bloody hell am I supposed to now-w?" Alright. So the guy stutters with his w's. Cool.

"Art assignment?" Karkat asked, twitching his head towards the door. The boy followed him closely, bumping into him in the revolving door. After about 10 minutes of difficulties of being stuck, they finally got out, and started to walk through the lobby.

"This place is a little... second-rate, huh?" he said, marveling at the lack of fancy wallpaper and chandeliers. Karkat gave an aggravated sigh, pressing the button on the elevator. 'If only it came this fucking fast last time,' he thought, dragging the rich guy into the elevator. He watched the elevator flash the floor numbers until it reached floor 9. He stepped out, motioning at the boy to walk out with him. They wandered in the hallways, and for a second, Karkat got lost. It wasn't an uncommon thing. He finally found his room number, sixty-nine-B, and jabbed the key into the lock. He heard a chuckle from behind him, and turned around only to see the boy muffling his laughs with his hand.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just- your room number. Hahahah!" He doubled over laughing, and received a punch in the shoulder. Karkat twisted the key in the lock, removing it and turning the knob. He opened the door, throwing his shoes off and tossing the scarf on the bed. He motioned his hand towards the bed, and walked over to the stove. It was all one big open space. No walls. Except for the bedroom that he and John never used. And of course the bathroom.

"You can sit down. No need to be so fucking uptight." He told the boy, and with that he sat down, removing his own scarf and sitting Indian-style on the edge of the bed.

"So what's your name?" Karkat asked, rummaging through the cabinets in search of something to eat. John always bought that Japanese shit. Ramen, or something like that. While it was really good, Karkat wasn't about to hear that little rich prick complain about the lacking quality of the food. He was surprised that he hadn't said anything about the apartment yet.

"Eridan. Eridan Ampora." The boy said, having an uncanny resemblance to James Bond. "How about you?"

"Karkat Vantas. It's a pleasure." he said, putting a hand up in the air while taking out a pot. He tried to light the stove, but it kept burning out. It eventually filled the room with the smell of gas.

"W-why can't you just use a lighter?" Eridan asked, raising a brow and smirking. Karkat's face turned read and steam was practically blowing out of his ears.

"Well don't you just know everything? Thank you, asshole, for making me feel like a total dickhead." Eridan bit his lip, desperately trying to hold back a chuckle that would send Karkat off.

Karkat looked over his shoulder, his eyes even a deeper red than before. "Are you fucking laughing? God you are so fucking lucky that I'm a nice person. Or I would've so kicked your rich ass out of here by now!" He resembled that of a hungry wolverine at that point, slamming a wooden spoon on the floor.

"Heheh. Wow, Kar. Quite the temper you have." he said, wagging a finger. Karkat looked at him like he was the absolute most ignorant life form ever to exist on the face of the earth., and then shook his head, turning back to the stove.

"What's with the fucking pet name?" he grumbled, looking to the side so he could see Eridan in the corner of his eye. "Oh, I do that with everyone. It's not out of the ordinary." Karkat looked down at the stove, still grumbling, "Well mine sounds like a fucking motor vehicle."

"Is your roommate by any chance John Egbert?" he asked, leaning towards Karkat with a curious expression. Karkat slowly turned around to face Eridan, his eyes widened. "Actually... Yeah. He his. How the fuck would you know?"

Eridan chuckled. He apparently liked the fact that he could confuse Karkat so easily. "We're in the same department. And he's always talkin' about he has an asshole roommate." Karkat relaxed a bit, just glad that the guy wasn't a stalker or some shit. He finished what he was cooking, chicken alfredo, or at least that's what he called it. He grabbed a few paper bowls out of the cabinet to his right, separating the meal evenly amongst the two. Looking at the bowls, the food looked like absolute shit. Didn't even look earthly. He tossed both bowls into the garbage can without Eridan noticing him. Now. Something to stall..."Do you like coffee?" he asked, rummaging around for the miniature coffee pot that his mom had given him as a house-warming gift. Well, that's what she said it was.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I do." Eridan replied, knocked out of the daze that he was in before. Karkat finally found the filters, but was still in search of the coffee maker and the actual coffee. He felt a bag of something buried deep beneath the dishes. Sure enough, there was the coffee. If only he could find the fucking coffee maker. He cursed under his breath, struggling to find it. Eridan giggled at the sight. "Hav-vin' a little trouble there?' he asked, walking over to assist him. So he stuttered with his v's too, eh? Good to know. He felt Eridan reach over to him, and to his horror, Eridan had the coffee pot in his hand.

"Kar. You are such a dumbass. It w-was right there." He was pointing to a spot to the right of the stove, where Karkat kept the thing.

"Shut. The fuck. Up." he said, snatching the pot from Eridan as he prepared it.

"How do you like it?" he asked, still too steamed to look at him directly. "Your coffee, I mean."

"Two creams, one sugar." he replied, his eyes wandering around the small apartment once again.

"Well I don't _have_ any fucking sugar. You're just getting cream. " Karkat finished the pot of coffee and poured it onto two mugs that were set aside earlier. He searched the refrigerator for cream, finding it and pouring it into Eridan's coffee. He picked the two mugs up. "Here, asshole." He handed it to him, sitting down beside him, staring at the steam rising from the mug. He crossed his legs, taking a sip from his coffee. "So. What are you majoring in?" he asked, wiggling his toes.

"Human studies. Anatomy. Thin's like that. There w-was a pretty big assignment that that guy took form me. He's been makin' me do his w-work so he w-would graduate. Fuckin' immature douche."

"Woah. I'm sorry, man." Karkat said, putting his hand on Eridan's shoulder, actually feeling pretty sorry for the guy.

"Oh, that's alright. It'll only take me a couple of hours to sketch another one. But how-w about you? W-what do you major in?"

"Graphic design. Not a big deal though. The class is huge. " he said, scratching the back of his head, a bit embarrassed about it. "W-well you'v-ve got quite a knack for it." he said, pointing to some of Karkat's sketches on the wall. "Fuck I can't do anythin' that would fuckin' compare to that. You'v-ve got some _serious_ fuckin' talent."

"Thanks. I bet you do too." Karkat was fucking blushing now. He thought his work was absolute shit. But apparently not. He had gulped down his coffee in that small amount of time, and he had a hard time sitting still. Just when he was about to go absolutely crazy from sitting still, he heard a knock on the door. He sprung up, and did a little jog to the door to answer it. He looked through the peep-hole, to see a big-headed John, waiting with his arms full of groceries. He pushed an eye against the glass. "Come on, Karkat! Let me in! These are heavy!" He leaned against the door, whining to his friend. Karkat pulled the door open, letting John somewhat fall in. He helped him pick up the fallen groceries. Well, somewhat helped him. John shot up, finally noticing the presence of Eridan on their bed. "Oh, hiya, Eridan! So you finally met Karkat, huh?" John leapt forward and gave Eridan a hug, nearly suffocating him with derp. "Hey, John. Yeah. He really helped me out. You're lucky man." he said, giving him a light punch in the shoulder. "Hehe! Yeah! I am pretty lucky to have Karkat as a roomie!" John gave a toothy grin, and went to put the groceries away.

"What are all the fucking groceries for?" Karkat asked, digging through them on the counter. "I thought I would make something special tonight!" John's smile almost looked fake now. Karkat scowled at him, and responded in the most hostile way possible, "What's so fucking special about today? We didn't win the lottery, and you didn't get a girlfriend, so why are we eating decent food?" John squinted his eyes, giving Karkat a good slap on the back. "Because I got an A on my assignment! I finally turned something in early!" He seemed quite proud of his accomplishment. Eridan stood up, beginning to rummage through the groceries with them. "W-what were you plannin' on makin'?" John looked up at him, his eyes wide. "Umm- I'm not exactly sure. I just grabbed everything that looked yummy!"

"Hmm. Would you mind if I called a friend? She's absolutely superb at cooking, and she can make anythin'." John looked at him in awe, mostly for his kindness. "Sure! If she can do it, go for it!" Eridan gave a light smirk and flipped out his phone, and dialed seemingly endless numbers into it before lifting it up to his ear. "Fef?...I have fav-or to ask you...Yeah. How-w'd you know-w?...Alright...It's the apartment complex across from the painting department, ninth floor, room sixty-nine-B...Yeah...Bye." He put it in his back pocket, looking at the two boys. "We're all set. She'll be over any minute now." Karkat scratched the light stubble that had developed under his chin, and ran to plop down on the bed. "You guys let me know when she gets here." He plugged in his headphones to his iPod, and was strewn across the bed every which way. He started to doze off, and before they knew it, John and Eridan were stuck with a grumpy, sleeping asshole in apartment sixty-nine-B, awaiting the girl who would make their 'special' dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Gosh I am a procrastinator. -_-' But anyways, the asks have been answered, and chapter 2 is here! c: I'm still doing "Something Hidden," so don't freak out if you were reading it before. It's just that, with school and everything else put together, I have only small excerpts of time to work on anything, let alone fanfiction. But anyways, enough of my ramblings. I hope you enjoy chapter 2~ 3**

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><p>Eridan and John sat quietly, watching Karkat tossing and turning on the bed. Eridan had made himself comfortable on a table next to the windowsill, and John had propped his rear against the wall with his legs in the air, playing on his iPhone. It had been roughly ten minutes since Eridan had called the girl, and it was taking her absolutely <em>forever<em> to show up. Eridan had his gaze directed mostly out of the window, but it would motion towards Karkat every time he would wiggle or rustle. He heard a knock on the door, and forced himself up. The position he was in was somehow comfortable, and seemingly hard to get out of. He stood up, and his ass was numb. _Great_. He walked in a few miniature circles before he removing his shoe and throwing it at Karkat, disrupting his sleep.

"What the fuck was that for?" he asked, throwing it back at Eridan and nearly missing.

"Shut up. Fef's here. Now look presentable." He walked over to the door, opening it for his friend. "Hey, Eridan!" said the girl, and threw her arms around his neck, not ceasing until Eridan turned a light shade of blue. "Hey Fef..." he choked out, fanning himself until he turned back into his natural pinkish-pale color. "So who are these gentlemen?" She asked, happily skipping to John first. She was wearing a knee-length skirt with some fur boots and an over-coat that hid a sea-blue turtle-neck that went with her coral eyes perfectly. Eridan slipped off her coat, and tossed it on the bed along with the scarves. John was still trying to get out of his previous position, which left him kneeling on the floor. He shot up, extending his hand toward her. "John... My name's John Egbert! It's a pleasure." the girl giggled and pulled him into an affectionate hug. "I'm Feferi Peixes. Nice to meet you!" She turned to Karkat, crossing her arms and raising a brow. "How about you? What's your name?" Her long, dark curly hair hung in ringlets, two or three falling into her eyes. "I'm Karkat Vantas. Nice to meet you." he rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, receiving a tight hug around his torso, arms and all. She backed away from Karkat, looking around the room, mostly at Karkat's blueprints on the wall. "Oh, wow! Who did these? They're absolutely amazing!" She hopped over to one of his freshman year projects, tracing her fingers along all of the angles and straight lines.

"Umm... I did..." Karkat blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. His eyes were glued to the floor, watching his toes moving around in his socks. "So! What do I have to work with here?" She rolled up her sleeves, rustling through the bags. The three gathered around her, watching her work her magic. While John and Karkat were awestruck, Eridan wasn't so big on it. He had seen her do it so many times before, it just became a regular thing. He sat on the bed, feeling an arm on his shoulder. He looked over, seeing a dark-haired man with a nose ring. "Holy fuck, Gam. You fuckin' scared the shit out of me!" The three at the counter looked back at the two, a bit wide eyed. John's toothy grin grew even bigger at the sight of his friend. "Gamzee! You're back!" John rushed to him, collapsing on top of him in a hug. "Yeah, bro. Just got back a couple of hours ago. Sounded like there was a party or some shit. I thought I'd crash it." He rubbed John's back, looking at Karkat, who was still surprised. "How in the ever-loving fuck did you get in here?" he asked, crossing his arms and awaiting an answer.

"It doesn't motherfucking matter. As long as I'm here." John got up and walked back to the counter, leaning on it to face them. Gamzee pulled a cigarette out of his back pocket, lighting it and exhaling a puff of smoke out of his nostrils. "So what's been up with you guys? What'd I miss?" He leaned back on the wall, crossing his legs. John proceeded to crack the window so the rest of them wouldn't choke to death form the smoke. "What_ is_ that shit? Did you fucking wrap some gum that was stuck to your shoe and fucking smoke it?"

Gamzee chuckled, and put- well more like rested his arm on Karkat's shoulder.

"Nothing interesting. We just met Feferi." Karkat pointed to her, and she was already chopping vegetables. "Nice to meet you!" She said over her shoulder, concentrating on mincing some kind of vegetable. "Same here. You have some radical hair, little lady." said Gamzee with his somewhat-50's-mixed-with-hippie charm. "Hehe. Thank you!" She whipped it to the side, giving him a playful wink. His jaw dropped a bit at her. She really was beautiful. Karkat still stared in awe, and completely drowned out the background conversation instantly. Just watching her cook was entertaining enough. She would fling spices and chop vegetables and all he could do was be awestruck. He would be struck out of his daze every now and then by an obnoxious, nasally laugh from John, but it wouldn't take him long to hop right back into it. He would look at her face, her body, and would wonder if she was Eridan's girlfriend. It wouldn't surprise him, since they seemed to share the same interests. She seemed like the kind of girl he would be into. She seemed like the kind of girl that _he_ would be into. 'NOPE. NONONONO. YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND.' He thought to himself, shaking his head to get rid of the thought. It was John. The person that he seemed to so desperately hate was the one he loved the most. He has been straight up to that point, so you could say that he was 'johnsexual.' They acted like anything but a couple, only exchanging hugs and kisses and nothing more; and Karkat wouldn't dare do those things in public. In fact, he would tell people that he was single whenever they would ask them. He didn't know how much the derp actually liked him, but he seemed to be head-over-heels for the fuckass.

Gamzee waddled over to the window, flicking the cigarette to make the ashes fall off. He held it out of the window from that point, finally noticing that it bothered everyone. Karkat really didn't actually mind that much. He smoked, but maybe once every couple of days. Not a motherfucking pack every day like Gamzee. He flicked the rest of the butt out of the window, and sat on the table next to the counter.

Karkat saw a flash of red outside the window, and walked to the glass doors, sliding them open. Dave stood against the wall, leaning on it with one shoulder and his toe dug into the ground. What a douche. "Heard there was a party. Or at least that's what I heard from the eighth floor."

"How in the fuck did you get up here from the fucking eighth floor?" He ran to the railing of the balcony, looking down for a secret staircase or rope or something. But he found nothing. "So are you going to invite me inside or what? December isn't what I would call warm, you know." Karkat looked away, sticking his middle finger in the Strider's face. He opened the door hesitantly, inviting yet _another_ person into the apartment. "Take a seat. That is, if you can fucking _find_ one." He walked over to Gamzee, who had lit yet another cigarette, snatching it from his mouth and walking outside. He plopped down in the chair on the balcony, inhaling smoke from the small white stick that filled his lungs. Damn it felt good. Every now and then, a cig really hit the spot. He finished it off, and put it out in the ashtray that he had originally bought for Gamzee, but soon found it was a waste since the guy didn't believe in them or some shit like that.

He walked back inside just in time to see Feferi shove something in the oven. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it smelled fucking fantastic. He walked towards it, inhaling it through the vents in the oven before sitting down on the bed between Eridan and Dave. "You people fucking stress me out." He ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back and slouching against the wall. Dave looked over his shoulder, shoving Karkat's thigh with his hand. "What the fuck is up with you? You have a girl over. Show some fucking respect." He lowered his glasses to wink at a now blushing Feferi. She giggled and turned back to the counter, picking up the remnants of food that she had left out while preparing the meal. The pieces of shredded vegetables and chunks of discarded fat were slid into the garbage can, and Feferi rinsed her hands off in the sink, drying them off on her skirt. Karkat looked at how it just fell right back into place. She was wearing so many colors, he was almost fucking blinded. "What are you, a sugar plum fairy in fucking Fantasia?" She giggled, nodding her head. She looked away, and whipped her hair in his direction, almost trying to be flirty.

"That should take care of that! It'll be about twenty minutes!" She plopped down onto a kitchen chair next to Gamzee. She looked over her shoulder, not even noticing that he was there before. "Oh, gosh! I didn't see you there." He chuckled, and rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand. Karkat still sulked, and was probably ten times more pissed off than he was before. He sat up, rubbing his numb ass, and waddled into the back bedroom, which was used as an art room/ computer room, but also served as a place where Karkat could go to blow off steam. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he proceeded to pull it out to see that he had a text from Sollux.

hey kk

hey sollux.

can ii try 2omethiing out?

sure why not.

ok. ii'm goiing to 2end you 2omethiing and ii need you to download iit.

ok fine. what does it do?

you'll 2ee.

He recieved a message with countless numbers and letters all organized in what seemed to be a code for something. He downloaded it, and texted Sollux back.

WHAT DID IT DO?

ye2. iit worked. ii now know how to change the way people type through a text me22age.

WHAT THE FUCK

Karkat stared at his phone. The motherfucking caps lock wouldn't work, either. Fuck, he hated that guy.

heheh. that 2tyle 2uiit2 you more. yelliing all the tiime.

OH MY GOG I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T CHANGE IT BACK

**GOD

oh, well ii would love to. but you 2ee, ii haven't fiigured out a way to undo iit yet.

WHAT DO YOU FUCKING MEAN

ii mean iit's goiing to bee 2tuck liike that untiil ii fiigure out how to fiix iit.

*be

be2iide2, ii'm 2tuck with thii2 2hitty a22 phone. it type2 two ii's every fuckiing tiime ii type. the 2 ii2 the only thiing ii do on purpo2e. for the lii2p.

I ALREADY FUCKING KNEW THAT, DUMBASS.

well now your text fiit2 you, too

FUCK. JUST GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE.

why would ii want to do that?

BECAUSE I NEED TO TALK TO YOU

about what

I DONT KNOW JUST COME ON. I ALREADY HAVE LORD KNOWS HOW MANY PEOPLE IN MY APARTMENT. ONE MORE ISNT GOING TO MAKE A FUCKING DIFFERENCE.

oh, and by the way, thii2 wiill al2o effect your pe2terchum. ju2t 2ayiing.

OH MY GOD FUCK YOU.

Karkat collapsed on the 'bed,' which served as just a piece of furniture for keeping blueprints and whatever else. Sollux, the fucking asshole. Karkat always hated when messed with him like that. Always be Sollux's guinea pig, whether it be with hacking or whatever the fuck else. It wasn't like he cared. Although, Sollux _did _have some kind of thing for Karkat. It was fucking weird. Being with John was creepy enough in and of itself, and being sexually bombarded by a one-man homo army didn't help how insecure he felt about the situation. Sollux had sworn that he had a girlfriend, but Karkat had never even seen her. Hell, he'd never even heard her name before. 'Oh, God what was it again? It was F-fffiona? No. Too ordinary. It was something weird with an f.' He recalled how he used to remember it. He would call her Freckles, because he remembered that they sounded somewhat similar. 'God damn it what is it?' He tapped his head, crossing his free arm over his knee, which was pulled up to his chest. His phone vibrated again.

oh, and ii heard feferii wa2 over there, ii2 that riight?

'That's it!' He threw his arms into the air, his phone almost taking off with them. 'Wait a second...' he raised a brow, thinking about the girl's name. He crept over to the door, and cracked it open to get a peek at her. So _that _was Sollux's girlfriend. The way that he would always describe her was spot-on. She really was a beautiful girl. How Sollux got such a girl? He didn't know; but he wasn't about to question it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and flipped it open.

YEAH SHE'S HERE. JUST HURRY UP.

alriight. ii'm on my way.


	3. Chapter 3

**WOAAHH Sorry for being dead for the last couple of weeks. REALLY SHORT CHAPTER. My laptop broke and it'll be a while before I can get a new one. I typed this chapter on my phone .-. Again HUGE sorry for this. Oh, and don't worry about the whole Sollux/Karkat thing. I have plans for that. **

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><p>Karkat's eyes began to grow heavy, and with every blink, they lidded a little more. He would hear laughing from the other room every now and then, but for the most part, it was just muffled voices. He pulled out his phone, and looked for his dad's number.<p>

_HEY DAD_

_Hey_

_I MISS YOU_

His dad was stationed in Iraq, fighting in the war. He gave Karkat his phone, telling him that he could text him whenever he needed him. He was really the only family that Karkat liked or talked to, except for his mother, who had basically disowned him his sophomore year of high school. It was really hard for Karkat to be away from his dad for as long as he was. It had been almost a year.

_I miss you too. I'll be home as soon as I can._

_YEAH._

_So how's school?_

_IT'S ALRIGHT. I FINALLY GOT PAST THE FIRST SEMESTER._

_That's good. How are things with John?_

_Karkat gripped his wrist with the opposite hand, beginning to type words that felt somewhat painful to him. His dad, believe it or not, was the only person in his family (that Karkat was aware of) that knew that he was dating a guy, and was okay with it._

_THEYRE GOOD. WERE DOING FINE._

I'm just glad that you're finally happy, Karkat. And that's all that matters. I love you, son. Remember that.

Karkat felt something tugging at his heart. His mouth began to quiver, and silent tears began to fall from his face onto the phone screen. He didn't wipe them away, he just let them drip. It was good to know that he could cry; that he was capable. His hands were now shaking, and he could barely keep the phone in his hand.

There was an abrupt knock on the door, followed by the creaking that occurred whenever someone opened it. A figure slid in, and leaned against the doorframe. Karkat quickly dried his tears as best as he could, and turned to his friend, sniffling and wiping his face. 'Finally.' He thought, springing up to run to him, hugging Sollux around the neck as hard as he could

"Hey, man. I came ath fatht ath I could." Sollux returned the hug, scratching Karkat's scalp with his free hand. He rested his face on the top of Karkat's head, and seemed to be smelling his hair. Sollux did that a lot, and Karkat never knew why.

Karkat didn't say a word, but it looked like he didn't have to. He had this thing with Sollux, when they could speak without words. All he could do was cling to Sollux for dear life and hope that the tears would stop flowing soon. He needed help. He needed to feel loved. In that moment, he felt like he needed Sollux, too, more than anything. Karkat lifted his head from Sollux's shoulder, which was now soaked with tears, and looked at him, his eyes red and puffy and glassy. If anything, the telepathy needed to work now. Karkat's heart skipped a beat, and Sollux leaned in close to him, their lips hovering over each other's. He felt his heart leaping out of his chest, and he brushed his lips against Sollux's.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered, scraping his fingers up Sollux's back.

"Yeah..." he whispered back, running his tongue along the shorter boy's bottom lip

His friend accepted the invitation, and crushed their lips together almost instantly.

He needed an outlet, and Sollux was just that. Karkat felt something under his foot, and it wasn't before long that he slipped. He grabbed on to the front of Sollux's shirt, and pulled him down with him. A loud thud resonated through the floor and into the walls. Karkat was almost certain that at least one of the people in the room next door would've heard it. Surely enough, he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Sollux looked at him, with a half-horrified-half-pleased face. He scrambled off Karkat and helped him up just in time for the door to open. Sadly, the position that the door was opened to didn't put them in a very good situation. Sollux was holding Karkat by the waist, his shirt half-off, and Sollux's glasses had fallen off. They turned their heads to Gamzee, standing in the doorway.

"Whoa, motherfucker. Did I like, motherfuckin' interrupt something?" he asked, falling back a bit. "Anyways, we just finished eating all the motherfucking food. Looks like you guys gotta find something else."

Karkat gave him a blazing look, and Gamzee knew what he was trying to get across.

With that, Karkat was storming out the door, holding Sollux's wrist, headed towards Golden Corral.


	4. Why haven't there been updates?

Hello! Long time no chapter, right? Well, I'll explain why.

My laptop's screen broke, and I didn't have enough money to replace it, so I sold it. Therefore, I created an unannounced hiatus on all on my ongoing fanfiction. I am happy to announce that this hiatus will end as soon as August 15, 2012. This is when I will be picking up my new laptop, and I'm extremely excited about starting up again! Thank you all for waiting so patiently for an update, and I promise Chapter 4 will not disappoint!

Much love and appreciation,

~Mads


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